OU recruiting taller receivers

[Mazeppa]

http://www.crimsonandcreammachine.com/2014/1/21/5329784/oklahoma-sooners-recruiting-method-to-the-madness-wide-receivers-dallis-todd-sterling-shepard

[birddog]

I like the idea of having physical receivers that can block downfield because we will always have a slot guy that can get loose over the middle. Wouldn't any school take wrs that avg 6`5 as opposed to 5`11 if there isn't a massive discrepancy in speed and running good routes? What is the downside to getting tall fellas on the outside?

[Jacie]

What is the downside to getting tall fellas on the outside?

Probably can't hit a free throw to save his life . . .

[Curly Bill]

It's cyclic. Let some team have a huge year with a bunch of smaller receivers and watch the other teams beat the bushes to find all the smurf receivers they can.

[8timechamps]

I like the idea of having physical receivers that can block downfield because we will always have a slot guy that can get loose over the middle. Wouldn't any school take wrs that avg 6`5 as opposed to 5`11 if there isn't a massive discrepancy in speed and running good routes? What is the downside to getting tall fellas on the outside?

I think any school would take a tall receiver over a short one if all things were equal. The problem is, the taller a reciver is, the less likely he can move like a shorter guy. So, over the course of time, more 'short' receivers get signed. We've just had a really good run on taller guys this year.

[8timechamps]

It's cyclic. Let some team have a huge year with a bunch of smaller receivers and watch the other teams beat the bushes to find all the smurf receivers they can.

Yep. That's true for just about every position. If a team wins with a smaller, more agile offensive line, then that will be the trend...until those teams are beaten with a massive, bulldozing defensive line...then they'll go back. Very cyclical.

[Curly Bill]

Yep, there might not be a bigger group of "followers" than football coaches. Monkey see, monkey do!

...and yes, football coaches are much worse than other coaches!

[jkm, the stolen pifwafwi]

We've always gone after big receivers. Our problem has been effort and the ability to catch the ball. I'd say probably the most complete tall guy we've had was either brandon jones or travis wilson.

Malcolm Kelly and Dejuan Miller were great on the 6 plays they caught a pass, but they made you want to strangle them on the other 59 offensive plays.

Chaney, Tennell, Huggins couldn't catch the ball

Fred Strong had academic issues.

[Curly Bill]

We've always gone after big receivers. Our problem has been effort and the ability to catch the ball. I'd say probably the most complete tall guy we've had was either brandon jones or travis wilson.

Malcolm Kelly and Dejuan Miller were great on the 6 plays they caught a pass, but they made you want to strangle them on the other 59 offensive plays.

Chaney, Tennell, Huggins couldn't catch the ball

Fred Strong had academic issues.

And I thought Tennell was going to be a beast! He had crazy athleticism, but I never saw him play in high school or I might have known better.

[8timechamps]

Yeah, I remember when we got a commit from Justin McKay, and I thought "it's going to be nice to have a little height in the red zone" (although McKay wasn't crazy tall...he's 6'2")...then, well he ended up at Kansas.

[Curly Bill]

Yeah, I remember when we got a commit from Justin McKay, and I thought "it's going to be nice to have a little height in the red zone" (although McKay wasn't crazy tall...he's 6'2")...then, well he ended up at Kansas.

Yeah, I was excited about this fool too! So...I love to follow recruiting and get all fired up when we land these supposedly awesome recruits, but it goes to show ya never know???

[yermom]

We've always gone after big receivers. Our problem has been effort and the ability to catch the ball. I'd say probably the most complete tall guy we've had was either brandon jones or travis wilson.

Malcolm Kelly and Dejuan Miller were great on the 6 plays they caught a pass, but they made you want to strangle them on the other 59 offensive plays.

Chaney, Tennell, Huggins couldn't catch the ball

Fred Strong had academic issues.

had such high hopes for Brandon Jones and Travis Wilson

Wilson seemed like he came out of nowhere in 2004 when i thought Brandon Jones would, but didn't seem to do much in 2005 outside of that reverse at UCLA

[jkm, the stolen pifwafwi]

had such high hopes for Brandon Jones and Travis Wilson

Wilson seemed like he came out of nowhere in 2004 when i thought Brandon Jones would, but didn't seem to do much in 2005 outside of that reverse at UCLA

While they only average catching the ball, they also were really good blockers. I'm just not a fan of one dimensional guys (which is what everyone else on that list was). Some could block but not catch, some catch but not block, etc

[EatLeadCommie]

I noticed this trend earlier this year when our little WRs were having trouble getting free in coverage and getting beat up to boot. Your average corner is probably going to run a bit under 6 feet...You need the quick, agile guys who can turn their hips and direction on a dime, and normally those aren't the big guys (Sherman of the Seahawks being a notable exception), so big WRS are great just for mismatches they create in the secondary. Plus the bigger they are, the stronger they usually are so they can fight through jams and holds, etc... If you can find one who can run like the wind and has a good head on his shoulders, you go after him.

[swardboy]

Could it be that WR is an exceptionally hard to scout position because high school arms don't compare to college qb passing?

Plus in my personal experience, I found out real quick I couldn't get away with stuff in college that I did in h.s. as far as throwing the ball went. the difference in db's was off the chart.

[Scott D]

What defines a taller receiver? Because I thought for one year Justin Brown wasn't that bad.

[oupride]

The addition of Justin Brown was great. I am looking forward to some taller receivers.

[8timechamps]

Yeah, I was excited about this fool too! So...I love to follow recruiting and get all fired up when we land these supposedly awesome recruits, but it goes to show ya never know???

For as long as I've followed recruiting, you'd think I would have learned my lesson. NOPE. I still get excited about certain players, and of course eventually disappointed. It's a good thing I'm not on the staff, I would SUCK.

[8timechamps]

What defines a taller receiver? Because I thought for one year Justin Brown wasn't that bad.

Yeah, good question.

I've always thought 6'2"+ was "taller" for a receiver. This year, OU has 3 guys over 6'5" committed, so maybe that's the standard...anything over 6'5" is officially "tall".

[BoulderSooner79]

We've always recruited taller receivers, but sometimes the HS coach is not totally honest. Shepard was listed at 6'4" in HS.

[picasso]

DeJuan Miller.

[SoonerinLA]

Missouri has a batch of outstanding taller receivers. Would like to pick up one or two of that type every year.

[OkieThunderLion]

We've always gone after big receivers. Our problem has been effort and the ability to catch the ball. I'd say probably the most complete tall guy we've had was either brandon jones or travis wilson.

Malcolm Kelly and Dejuan Miller were great on the 6 plays they caught a pass, but they made you want to strangle them on the other 59 offensive plays.

Chaney, Tennell, Huggins couldn't catch the ball

Fred Strong had academic issues.

Miller had suspect hands too. Led the team in drops, whichever year I charted them all. Probably '11.

Jones wasn't really a tall guy. He's my height, 6-1. Played baseball against him. I think OU used to list him at 6-3, back when they used to let the players list their own height. Now the measure them.

[OkieThunderLion]

had such high hopes for Brandon Jones and Travis Wilson

Wilson seemed like he came out of nowhere in 2004 when i thought Brandon Jones would, but didn't seem to do much in 2005 outside of that reverse at UCLA

Wilson was just kind of a rotation guy in '03, had a big year in '04, but the QB situation (and nagging ankle) kind of got him in '05.

[OkieThunderLion]

Thread wouldn't be complete w/o mentioning one of the biggest recruiting misevals of recent years, Erica Huggins. Came in the same year as Kelly, Iglesias, and Johnson.

[jkm, the stolen pifwafwi]

Thread wouldn't be complete w/o mentioning one of the biggest recruiting misevals of recent years, Erica Huggins. Came in the same year as Kelly, Iglesias, and Johnson.

He is in my "Stone Hands" list

[8timechamps]

Thread wouldn't be complete w/o mentioning one of the biggest recruiting misevals of recent years, Erica Huggins. Came in the same year as Kelly, Iglesias, and Johnson.

Yeah, Huggins was another good one (well, not really "good").

[cccasooner2]

And I thought Tennell was going to be a beast! He had crazy athleticism, but I never saw him play in high school or I might have known better.

Adron waited for the AFL before going beast mode. http://www.arenafootball.com/sports/a-footbl/aflshk/mtt/tennell_adron00.html

[Curly Bill]

Adron waited for the AFL before going beast mode. http://www.arenafootball.com/sports/a-footbl/aflshk/mtt/tennell_adron00.html

Huh...who knew??? Interesting.

[BoulderSooner79]

Adron waited for the AFL before going beast mode. http://www.arenafootball.com/sports/a-footbl/aflshk/mtt/tennell_adron00.html

I guess going from AFL to NFL is too big of a jump, or it would have happened by now. Adron never seemed to recover after that knee injury in the cursed '07 TTech game while at OU.

[jkm, the stolen pifwafwi]

I guess going from AFL to NFL is too big of a jump, or it would have happened by now. Adron never seemed to recover after that knee injury in the cursed '07 TTech game while at OU.

More likely NFL GM's hubris is too much to overcome. It still amazes me to this day that Kurt Warner EVER got a shot at the NFL (and I honestly don't think he would have without NFL Europe).

I also think it was Antwone Savage that tore up the Arena league as well and he never got another shot.

[aj44mc]

I have watched a few of Tennell's arena games. He still has stone hands they just keep throwing it up for him till he catches it.